New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-02-13
oay SewYort from tho City Hall down to the Battery.

show structures which the stranger 10 admire. They
are finished and furnished with speDdor which have
M snace 10 describe detail OF them. with stair
eases and corridors wanscoed In paneled walnut ana
cherry the other in white marble This lavshncss has
become matter OF course and luxury now goes 70 the
making of money well as to the spending o. It, what
makes 1t possible to build to such height Is the system
~ elevators or hfts-onc Of the instances in which
the American uscs longer word than tho English me
American elevator however, very unlike the English
Iift The London machine climbs heavenward as slowly
as an unrepentant sinner the Newnork elevator or
see why these lofty upper floors are preferred TO the
lower. There are six elevators In the Mills building
ceasciessly ascending and descending; fonr. think In
the Mutual Afc two on each side OF the nal. where
len the stream OF entering visitors.
From Of The upper floors to the rear. enchanting
complete, however. than those from rnE TRIBUNE or
from Mr. Cyrus Fields building at tho lower end OF
tnn iust@ai of himself ns the fashion runs know
nothing to equal the landscape which lies beneath and
the spectator who privileged to place himself at
VI" The substance of these buildings is equal to
the s s@w or so %ye and he2nes, of WALL and
are in fact, well as In name, reproof they seem
at Harvard that moi OF oldcrbuildngsn America
is venerable. will ever become so. Time refuses TO
console them. They all look though they meant bnsi-
nes, and nothing more There can he no question That
might be rash man who should predict that they.
more than tho ancient structures to when Mr.
They part OF the machinery OF money making.
OUR MODERN ARCHITECTURE.
tive purpose which has presided over ne later eors OF
LONDON and provincial architects Gothic. lombardo-
in red brick with rawbrdges and postern gates which
diversity the dnness Of the West End have never become
survive the voyage the Atlantic. do not to
deny that we are initiative have gone elsewhere
for models THE TIuBuSE Building would never have
been what It had there been no Palazzo vecchio at
Florence, Mr.. yanderblts house what 1t IL II Mr..
Richard Hunts imagination had not been kindcd by
loving study Of some Of the historic chateaux OF France
Mr.. Richardson's great pile at Albany certainly owes
The impartial crItic-I neither a critic impartial
might Tor aught know say OF NewYork that with all
its magnincencc. 10 wants ensemble Go where he may
In the business parts Of the city, he will find buildings to
admire hut the number OF streets which altogether
admirable Is limited There may be moments In his stroll
when he wishes that bcnefcent tyrant OF ede,
like ausSmann had had the ordering OF the whole 6usi
lie might well wish tho lesser Napoleon had set
up his Third Empire in Manhattan Now-York rs It
stands ia expression OF tho American spirit OF It's
force Its individuality it, nyontivenesS s and
also It's impaence OF control Precedent which counts
for much In England counts for little with us outside
Of the courts OF law Mr. ituskn long since proclaimed
no is capable Of nyening one. The American lis
tened 10 the ect and SAID he guessed he would Try lie
would be the last person 10 lie has succeeded but he
will point out ana not without PRIDE some OF MS eNPsrr
mems toward novelty. Where he has borrowed. he has
adapted Where he has given the reins TO his fancy he
has produced something which at least an istrnton
European traditions. lie certainly never would have
submitted to b, Haussmannzcd. and well for him u IL
that he would not for his iianssmann might have been
named Tweed and hrs municipal guidance nave iOuhh us
source IN Tammany Hall. .
between buildings that neighOors, will IN duo time
make ts way We shall make our toilet. We shall very
put underground those telegraph wires when loti
Brassey truly described unsightly. even think IL
possible that something may be done to reduce the num-
far than formerly bear names which are GER
tanly not American and are very often those OF ne er
man Hebrew. There many ot them 10 each
separate front, each advertiser striving to snrpass ms
rival they only confuse the customer or client ana
cease 10 be a guide TO him. It Ia idle to spend money
Oh architecture II the sign maker Is to cover 1t all up
We are practical people. and the practical objections
10 aafa aept m n
reform. Whether later. matters but little TO
city with The future before q which h
enough 10 dispense with panegyric ph1togr"Pn Is nli
metropolis OF which no is soJusty proud Yet thought
him almost too familiar with his own town To 90 luII JUS
tlco 10 those qualities which characteristic To
mo A., growth during ton year. seemed the work OF hy
There much speak OF besides ;he purely material side
Pa s m Ur zee for hmscf Il no cares to get
an adequate impression Of ts brancy ~ animation
mopoltn COMMISSIONS often described It's profoundly
Yc. profoundly American in character tits the fashion
Il has long been the fashion. Ia speak OF New i"rk as
cosmopolitan city There I, ,ense m which ane ssG
this attempt dcnatonaiiko the chief city Of America Is
are told the Irish and tho third German city In the
wOrld-has larger Irish population than Dnbln. and
larger German than any German city but Berlin ana
THE AMERICAN IDEA
II 4. because I ignore the Irish element and the
serman element or because think account ought Ia
be taken OF the mixed multitude OF naionaltes grouped
In picturesque confusion In New York city, that never
II a., American aud profoundly American
Thoy AZ. all there he rcckohed with. and each
has - influence On tho whole But not one OF these
haionaltics Is quite the at homo if In the mass
thoy act powerfully tho greater about them the
reaction ~ the whole on each component part ~ moro
powerful still The blending Of races has hardly begun
bat the presence aud contact OF nll these dsslnr
atoms resulted Ia imagam which Itself 3, Amer
lean. What Il called the American idea may be seen
perhaps IN fuller development elsewhere thAu ia New
II i, American In this II in nothing else. that it is
city and not Ike Landau l1JogrHpl'hl expression or
a huge aggregation of little Villages. it, municipal fo
/. homogeneous. organic. complete The eight or nine
hundred ba In which the New Workers deposit
trir votes each election day hnd their way AT last 10
single CENTRE aud give 'orlh single expression oi lhc
popular Will IL has regular form oi government, ana
though may not be- always well governed the oiLens
have they mink themselves III governed Slngle SET
az funcnuarc- directly responsible To Their constituents.
The American would be impatient ~ this congoroa Of
vc,trcs which the Engishnhn mas tolerated 80 Iouk a.
seemed Ia mo the greatest single chaugc IN the
po.ition and his attitude toward foreign opinion ana
hi. /. "A statement which need not be limited TO New.
York The desire OF the American for foreign approval
was for more than half century the stock tant OF tho
very curious company OF note-taking and book-wnng
Thn American who met the freshly landed Briton
with the question: What do You think OF our country
1, a frequent to say continual. ngurc In this sort
of literature. lilo accepted rs type. ana ne passed
into literature of much less nlppant aud fugitive kind
How much amablc," wrote COlcridgc In 1850,
the An eTcan dgctness and anxiety about the opinion
OF other nations. and especially OF the English IMAM tue
Ion lisin which affects 10 desplso the sentiments or
The rest ~ the world" Amiable not this American
anxiety the opinion OF other nations has diminished
and l. diminishing The reason or the diuiuiion Is not
fnr Ia seek American solicitndo about foreign opinion
dates from period when II still possible 10 regard
the American Republic as AN experiment The ClVil War
as Northerncrs still call 1.-THE heDelion followed
y the decisive triumph or the Unfon marked. TO our
minds Inc close OF the experimental stage Thc result Is
one ON which much remains 10 be said but refer 10
only explanation of the altered tone which Is TO be
noticed to-day. ,, -
The change did not come In moment. The growth OF
The new feeling gradual at iiisL IL might long nave
passed unobscryed but nobody who now visits America
can fail Ia he struck 10y II.
II there thing which thought more Impressive
th another In New York IL the note OF confidence,
Of security. OF independence OF all external Judgment
which made itself continually heard. Lest should miss
H. 1 wa. told. may say warned Of IL on nrst landing
had heard OF this dapason from Americans visit
Ing Europe that the effort Ia ADJUST ones self Ia II was
les, difficult. But | had been told also. and by men
whose testimony decisive, that no one could Know
what America like who had not seen II within aVciy
few years 80 that well understood how much had 70
learn What had 10 master first OF all was this radical al
crnIlou I'm tho attitude tho American mind toward INC
Lrnlran Mnrl IL moi alllludo OI hOstlllly sun